Had my ear ear-igated at the doctor

My ear had been giving me fits for several weeks now. I probably hadn't been able to hear out of it full-time for a week or two. I had a regular routine doctor's appointment next week, so I was hoping to hold off until then. But I decided this morning that I needed to do something about it now. It was really starting to hurt; especially when I blew my nose or stuck my finger in it.

It was my right ear. It seemed to have fluid in it ALL THE TIME. It drove me nuts. Then I couldn't hear out of it. And when I would rub it on the outside you could hear stuff squishing around in there. At first I bought some over-the-counter ear wax remover. It really fizzed, and seemed to help; but it didn't really change anything.

I was all set to just call Redi-med this morning, and then I thought "what the heck"... I'll just call my doctor and see if they might happen to have an opening today. Of course this is the day they close at noon. So I told the receptionist that I would just go to Redi-med and keep my appointment with them for next week. She was like, "Oh, no... just come in at 11:45 and I'm sure the doctor will see you." Apparently they don't like the thought of people going to Redi-med. So... I went at 11:40. I didn't really have to wait any longer than I usually do. I probably got called back around 12:05. My blood pressure was 138/90, but I'd drank a bunch of coffee, plus I was a little peeved at the one receptionist (one is the nicest person in the world; the other... not so much). The doctor didn't even care about my bp. He looked in my ear and said he couldn't even see the ear drum in the right ear, but the left one was perfectly clear. So he got out this antiquated old metal squirter thing and a bowl and a cup to put under my ear. He started pumping water into my ear. And he squirted, and squirted, and squirted... He finally started getting some flakes out. Then, FINALLY, he got this big huge glob of ear wax out. Holy cow. And I could immediately hear. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how deaf I had been in that ear. Then he put some alcohol in the ear and had me dry it. That was that. I walked out at 12:38.

He said if I keep getting fluid in it to just put a couple drops of rubbing alcohol in there, let it sit a few minutes, then let it drain out. The alcohol should dry up any liquid. That's nice to know, because I seem to ALWAYS have fluid in my right ear.

So... I can hear you now. Now I still have to go back next week though. Ugh. At least two visits to my family doctor are cheaper than one visit to Redi-med.